Before trading Damian Lillard, the Portland Trail Blazers had quietly built one of the NBA’s best young cores. Then they got back two proven big men who are both only 25 years old in DeAndre Ayton and Robert Williams. Both players have already been big contributors on teams that made the NBA Finals. Ayton was genuinely awesome for Phoenix on their run to the Finals, and Williams was a defensive monster for the Celtics in 2022. You add these two to the young guard trio of Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe and all of a sudden the group isn’t so quiet anymore. It’s just legitimately one of the best young teams in the NBA. They also have a two-way player who averaged over 20 points per game in Jerami Grant. Many people assumed when the team traded Dame they would fall to the worst team in the West, which was already a bit of a stretch. But with what they got back in return, this team could make a surprising run at a spot in the play-in tournament. Many people were shocked when the Jazz played like a playoff team last season, and although Portland doesn’t yet have a player as good as Markkanen was last season, I’d say the supporting cast is undoubtedly better. They have four players who have already proven to be well above average NBA players in Grant, Simons, Ayton, and Williams. Then Scoot and Sharpe have sky-high potential as well, and could be high level contributors this season. The New Look Trail Blazers are MUCH BETTER Than People Think.
Think about subbing, I’m on the road to 11k!!!
#portlandtrailblazers #scoothenderson #deandreayton
14 Comments
Bro we couldn't be happier in PDX! We ahould have done this 2 years ago, but it definitely worked out! Scoot, Sharpe, etc, we are excited!
I'm definitely excited to see what these guys can do. Excellent trades from Cronin. Now if we could sell the team to Uncle Phil I'd be over the moon.
The fact people slept in Simons is crazy. He’s Dame light, the guy can catch fire real quick if you don’t guard him.
Hey good video man! Let us get some highlights when you talk though.. watching dudes sit down is boring af
I think Portland is better than everybody thinks as well!!!
I agree GO BLAZERS
Chauncey said he doesn't plan to start the bigs together but will have them overlap minutes throughout the game
Anfernee Simons as the the Alpha Dog
Can't beat a #1, #3 n #7. Those 3 r our superstars. Our Big 3
The Blazers roster for this season looks better overall than last year's roster. We'll see if it works out that way, but the overall talent is better. They are more athletic, youthful and complete than the 2022-23 roster.
Ayton gets a lot of hate which really boils down to being picked over Luka. It’s about fit and opportunity and just Because it didn’t work out with one team doesn’t mean it won’t somewhere else. Now with all Ayton’s flaws he’s still a double double guy being a 3-4 option getting 8-12 shots
Markkanen is the clasic great player on a bad team. He will never be a great player on a good team. Simons, Ayton, and Grant are each better than Markkanen. Also, I wouldn't trade Scoot, Sharpe, or Williams for Markkanen. Markkanen is better than Williams if you want a great player on a lousy team, not if you want a player that contributes to a great team.
As a Blazer fan, I'll say Ant is very good offensively and last year went from just a very good catch and shoot shooter to an all around capable scorer and a better ball-handler. That said, he's not a great passer and his defense is horrible. Next to Scoot, that might not matter. And obviously he's the most developed/veteran guard other than Brogdon. But I think most of us see Shaedon having a way higher ceiling as a two-way capable guy who does a lot of things really well already. People outside of Portland might be sleeping on Ant, but some us might put him 6th cuz y'all really sleeping on Shae at the 2, Thybulle at the 3, and the fit that can be. I hope they role out:
PG – Scoot
SG – Shae
SF – Tisse
PF – JG
C – DA
Bench in order of minutes:
Ant
Timelord
Brogdon
Jabari Walker
Kris Murray
Rayan Rupert
Maybe it'll win fewer games than starting Ant, but I think it lets you better develop the right guy in Shae (plus the more loses the better for us rn lol)
This might craziest western conference of all time plus east is looking wild too. It’s going insane seeing which team disappoints.